As the summer capital is gearing up for the high profile visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the residents here today had to face a lot of inconvenience due to unusual security checks and cold weather conditions.
After a week-long respite from rain, weather conditions deteriorated during the last couple of days as the upper reaches of the Valley received fresh snowfall. This has led to wet and cold weather conditions, prompting people to put on additional layer of woolens.
What added to their inconvenience were surprise checks by the police, particularly around the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium — the venue for Prime Minister’s public rally on Saturday.
The police have already set up check points in and around the Lal Chowk and the roads leading to the summer capital’s nerve centre.
The Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium is less than 2 km from the Lal Chowk.
As a part of the security drill, the police blocked a portion of the road which connects the highway at Sonwar with the Residency Road. The stretch passes through the front gates of the stadium leading to the Lal Chowk.
The blockade led to traffic congestion on the vital Srinagar-Jammu national highway causing inconvenience to commuters. “It took me more than half an hour to cover a distance of hardly 1 km from the GB Pant Hospital to the Tourist Reception Centre crossing,” said Abdul Rashid, who was driving to the Lal Chowk from Batwara.
“The problem has been created by the blockade,” rued a policeman while managing traffic along with other colleagues at the crossing near Sonwar. Traffic plied at a snail’s pace throughout the day as the congestion spread to other routes.
The traffic was diverted via the Abdulla Bridge in view of construction work on the Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover, which led to more congestion in the area.
